Why Me

Love and Support for Families with Childhood Cancer

Holiday Giving

The holidays are a time of festive cheer for most, but for a family who have a child with cancer it can mean added stress and anxiety wondering how they will make ends meet.  Why Me tries to alleviate that worry by helping families in a variety of ways.  Listed below are a few ways you can support us as we lessen the burden on our families:

 

1. Hold a Gift Card Drive – The increased needs of a child being treated for cancer often result in mounting financial stress.  Gift cards help lessen the financial burden on families while away from home and commuting to the hospital at a time when income is reduced and expenses are escalating. Gift cards for gas, grocery stores, pharmacies, fast food, restaurants, and VISA/AMEX are especially helpful during such a difficult time.

2. Hold a Food Drive – The food pantry at Sherry’s House is always open to Why Me families.  We are always looking for groups and individuals to host food drives for us throughout the year so that we can continue to offer this amenity to our families. Visit our wish list for an update list of needed items.

3. Hold a Toy Drive – Travel sized games, legos,  and craft kits make great little items for us to bring along on visits to the hospital and make clinic appointments go faster. We also provide gifts throughout the year for birthdays, treatment milestones and more. Due to the compromised immune system of the kids, we can only accept new toys.

4. Make a Holiday Tribute – Give the gift of a donation to Why Me this Holiday Season.  We will send a card to your loved one, friend, or colleague that the donation is made in honor of. To make a Holiday Tribute click here. Please include in the comments section “Holiday Tribute” with the name and address of the person you would like the card to go to. Please call Robyn at 508-757-7734 to make a donation over the phone.  You may also mail your check, made payable to Why Me, to 1152 Pleasant Street, Worcester, MA 01602 – Attention Robyn

5. Amazon Smile – Why Me receives a small portion of every purchase made when you use Amazon Smile and designate Why Me as your charity of choice.

 

All donations can be dropped off during office hours of Monday – Thursday 9-5pm, Fridays 9-3pm.  Give us a call at 508-757-7734 if you have any questions or to request an after-hours drop off.

Why Me Summer Camp 2017

Children affected by cancer, and their siblings, often spend much of their time outside of treatment in medical appointments and therapies that can make fitting in other activities difficult.    With medication, physical limitations and long term effects of cancer treatments attending a typical  summer camp is not always possible.  Seven years ago Why Me recognized the need to provide a typical day camp experience for families, within the safety and security of the house, providing an important social and recreational outlet for the children and a small respite for the parents. Why Me mom Gabriela Molinari shares, “Attending camp means the world to us. We forget about fighting cancer and we can enjoy time with other families and see our kids having fun.”  Molinari’s youngest son Thiago was diagnosed with Leukemia in 2014 at age 3. Since his diagnosis, the Molinari family have utilized many services at Why Me and work to give back in any way they can.

The needs and feedback of families like the Molinari’s are what guide growing programs such as camp.  The Why Me Summer Camp program has now grown to serve 30 families over 4 weeks of programing each summer.  Each day of camp features unique activities, crafts and lunch that get the children laughing learning and playing. Cooperative icebreaker activities such as the Hawaiian Play Dough Competition, Marshmallow Tower Competition, and Safari hunt help the children connect to their strengths and similarities outside of their diagnosis.  While holiday themed activities such as the trick or treat costume parade, Easter egg coloring, and gingerbread house making contest help create new memories of activities some of the children may have missed out on over the year.

“Many kids going through treatment cannot play at the beach due to germs, get their lines wet in the pool, or do day trips due to exhaustion. Summer camp is held from 10am-1pm, so the kids can sleep in a little, do their morning routine, have fun at camp, and still have time for appointments or leisure in the afternoon.” explains Alyssa Bellino, camp instructor.

“I really do love every day of camp, but animal week is always my favorite because the kids get SO excited. The animals are like little celebrities to them. I also love seeing the kids support and relate to one another.  Here they do not feel self-conscious or embarrassed. I’ve overheard many kids say “wait you had cancer too?” It’s nice to see them open up to the volunteers or each other about their journey.”

Starting as a high school volunteer at Why Me Bellino has been running camp since 2015.  In addition to the daily running of camp Bellino works with volunteers and local businesses to provide an engaging and worthwhile experience for the families. Why Me camp counts on over 25 dedicated volunteers throughout the summer, including those donating lunches and materials for projects. This year the Molinari family cooked lunches and made fried dough for the campers. “I love to cook and Sherry’s House has helped our family in so many ways.  Making lunch is the least I can do.  We just want to be able to give back when we can.”   

Many organizations and companies attend camp year after year providing special events such as The Museum of Science Reptile Show, Animal Craze Animals, Magic World Amusements & Entertainment and many more.  “For many, it is not easy to face pediatric cancer, but we have been so fortunate to have the continued support of these organizations. Most of them offer a discount or even donate their time and services completely. Camp would not be possible without generous volunteers, who come day in and day out in order to allow the kids to have fun. It’s really nice to see how many compassionate and generous people there are in our community.”

A special thank you to all of our campers, special guests, and volunteers – including Team Thiago and Hillcrest Church for providing lunches. More photos can be found here.

 

If you would like to volunteer time, services or a donation to support this programing please visit https://whyme.org/get-involved/

 

Celebrating National Volunteer Appreciation Week

National Volunteer Week took place on April 23-29th. We are so appreciative for each and every volunteer that has and continues to donate their time to us. To celebrate, the week we will be highlighted five different volunteers  to show the variety of roles our volunteers play within our organization.

 Volunteer Highlight #1: Carol

Carol has been a volunteer with Why Me for over ten years. She donates her time tutoring at Sherry’s House for children in residence. Carol can also be found helping in the kitchen at monthly support groups and works with the kids in our mixture of memories bereavement group siblings.

“I first went to Sherry’s House to donate books and I was hooked. I believe that God puts us where we need to be. I viewed this as my new teaching assignment now that I was retired. I may tutor these kids about their school lessons, but in return, they inspire me about what life’s lessons are all about – hope, perseverance and love. I know this is where I need to be.”

 

 

Volunteer Highlight #2: Sue

Sue began volunteering in 2012 as a commitment to honoring the life of a family member taken too young. Each week Sue sent home-cooked meals over to Sherry’s House for families in residence. Volunteering her time and talents on her own schedule, Sue continues to donate meals for our monthly support groups, send along homemade gifts for families residing at Sherry’s House and create gift baskets for our fundraising events.

“Why Me is a very special organization run by an amazing, caring, creative group of people.My daughter-in-law, Amanda, lost her brother quite unexpectedly in 2011. Her family requested that in lieu of flowers, donations should be sent to Why Me. At the funeral, David’s best friend asked that we take with us some of David’s spirit of generosity, kindness and love of children. That the best way to honor him was to be like him and continue to make the world a better place. I began volunteering to make meals for the families that live in Sherry’s House. I am overwhelmed with gratitude to have the opportunity to work with this wonderful group of people.”

Volunteer Highlight #3: Clare

Clare began volunteering on her own in 2013 at our annual Why Me summer camp. She loved spending time with the kids, and so she continued to volunteer her time at monthly support group meetings and family fun events. In 2015, Clare chose Why Me as the volunteer site for her school Notre Dame Academy’s required Love In Action volunteer program. As part of this program, Clare has made a 2 year commitment to volunteering each week at Sherry’s House. She spends time with the kids at Sherry’s House after school, during vacation weeks, support groups and fun events.

“I love being able to come to Why Me and see the same faces every week. You create such a bond with these kids and that’s not something you can find other places.”

Volunteer Highlight #4: Jim

Jim began volunteering with Why Me shortly after the organization started. Through the years Jim has been a fixture at Why Me events (both fundraising and family fun), capturing moments that have turned into cherished memories. Jim’s photographs are a snapshot in time, telling a story filled with smiles, laughter and fun. This month alone Jim was at three events, donating precious weekend days to Why Me.

“I have loved volunteering for Why Me for the last 28 years. I do it for the kids, their families and their smiles!!”

 

 Volunteer Highlight #5: Ken

Ken has logged hundreds of miles running and cycling to raise money for Why Me. Ken drives up from Connecticut to volunteer at our Family Fun events, doing anything from helping kids with their craft projects to putting on the Boo-Boo Bear costume for photos.

“Back, when I first visited Why Me, I met an amazing young girl Kailiah. A young cancer survivor with humor and a fearless outlook on life, she became an inspiration for me to utilize running and cycling as fundraising events for Why Me. A true blessing with such a positive attitude bundled with her faith. I enjoy volunteering at the Easter Egg Hunt, the Christmas party and other events that are offered for the kids. It is such a joy to see the smiles and the kids laughing during these times and the bonds that have been created over the years. Such amazing work done through Why Me. I have always enjoyed doing volunteer work and serving others but nothing quite as rewarding as working with this team. Not only happy to participate but more importantly happy because I followed Gods path”.

“Volunteers are love in motion” – Anonymous

As National Volunteer Week comes to an end we reflect back on how fortunate we have been to have had so many wonderful volunteers walk beside us in our mission to help children with cancer. We have been able to assist over 625 families in 30+ years and none of that would be possible without the dedication of our volunteers. We chose to highlight 5 individuals this week to provide a small peek into the variety of ways one can get involved. However there have been hundreds of names and faces over the years that have contributed their time, talents and hearts to Why Me and we are just as thankful for each and every volunteer. If you have ever thought about wanting to get involved but don’t know where to start, reach out. We would love to hear from you and help you put your love for Why Me into motion.

Thank You for Touching the Tower with Why Me

Thank you to Andy Sharry, Worcester Fitness and everyone who came out to fourth installment of Touch the Tower with us on Wednesday, March 22nd.  To say it was a cold stroll to Bancroft Tower is an understatement, temperatures hovered around 24 degrees but that didn’t stop anyone.  More than 60 participants braved the bitter cold and raised over $775 for Why Me, bringing the Touch the Tower events total well over $2,500.  All money raised has directly benefitted our Why Me families and we are so thankful for the support Andy and Worcester Fitness continue to provide.   The next Touch the Tower event will be on June 21st, more information to come.  View all the photos from the event here, photos courtesy of Kill the Ball Media.

touch the tower 4
Photo by: www.joesantamaria.com

 

Learn more about the Touch the Tower events here.

 

February Vacation Fun Camp at Sherry’s House

Our first Vacation Fun Camp took place six years ago.  We took notice that families who have a child with cancer often don’t have the time or flexibility (with cancer treatment schedules) to go away for vacation.  Going to a local museum is a nice idea, but when your child has a compromised immune system something as simple as a cough can put a child battling cancer in the hospital for weeks.

Families look forward to our Why Me School Vacation Fun Camp, knowing their child (and his/her siblings) will have the opportunity to participate in fun activities in a safe and familiar environment.  Additionally Sherry’s House is ever mindful that many of these children are immune compromised and so it brings parent’s confidence knowing that the air filtration system at Sherry’s House utilizes both HEPA filters & ultraviolet radiation (UV) to eliminate airborne microorganisms and spores, specifically designed with these delicate immune systems in mind.

Not only do these vacation camps offer our families a chance to socialize outside of the hospital, but it gives parent’s a peace of mind knowing they can do so in safe, clean setting.

We always enjoy seeing many familiar and new faces during vacation camps at Why Me.  This February Fun Camp was no different, as our arts & crafts room was packed full of kids.

touch tankOn Tuesday, February 21st we kicked off camp with a visit from Mystic Aquarium and their traveling touch tank.  This was a great experience for the kids to touch/hold some snails, crabs and a lobster. We ended the day with a fun craft where each child got to make their own mason jar aquarium.  It was fun to see how different each one came out.  Some were filled with glitter, others were as dark as the ocean at night.  Overall the kids had a blast learning all about ocean life.

On boy paintingWednesday, February 22nd Just Paint led a fun cupcake themed painting activity.  The kids had a great time and got quite creative with their paintings.  After everyone finished we then decorated and enjoyed homemade cupcakes.

 

 

girl with face painted

For our final day of Fun Camp we held movie night on Thursday, February 23rd.  The arts & crafts room at Sherry’s House was packed with families ready for a showing of Secret Life of Pets on the big screen.  The kids were treated to amazing face painting courtesy of Face Painting by Christine Z.

Thank you to all of our visitors, volunteers, and Why Me families who attended. View all of our February Vacation Camp photos here.

 

 

Brain Tumor Talk

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